ANTIBODIES aka ANTIKÖRPER

Year: 2005
UK: Tartan Films
Cast: Wotan Wilke Möhring, Heinz Hoenig, Andre Hennicke, Ulrike Krumbiegel, Hauke Diekamp, Nina Proll, Jurgen Schornagel, Isabel Bongard, Nadeshda Brennicke, Coco Brown, Domenico D'Ambrosio, Hans Diehl, Holger Franke, Stefanie Fuchs, Bruno Grassm, Konstantin Graudus, Horst-Dieter Hedram, Lydia Karunyu, Frank Kusche, Rainer Laupichler, Marie Lindner, Laila Mohmand, Leonardo Nigro, Natascha Paulick, Norman Reedus, Gudrun Ritter, Elisa Schrey, Maria Schuster, Laura Alberta Szalski, Jockel Tschiersch, Martin Umbach, Christian von Aster, Milton Welsh, Waltraud Witte, Klaus Zmorek
Director: Christian Alvart
Country: Germany
Language: German (English subtitles)
UK: 127 mins
UK Certificate: 18 contains paedophile serial killer theme
UK Release Date: 17 November 2006 (Limited Release)


Synopsis

An insidious serial killer, a psychopath who uses the blood of his victims to paint surreal religious paintings, is arrested in Berlin after a fierce shootout with the police. The man had slaughtered and abused at least a dozen boys. The authorities can prove that. But are there more victims they are unaware of? The repercussions of the sensational arrest are especially felt in a small village not far from Berlin. The young, upstanding policeman there, Michael Martens (Wotan Wilke Möhring), has long been obsessed with the brutal murder of a local teenage girl, a friend of his son's. He travels to the big city in the hope of finding out that the girl too was one of the killer's many victims. He desperately wants to put the case behind him. His marriage has suffered because of it; he has neglected his wife, his kids and their farm.

His confrontation with the killer nonplusses the Federal investigators because their notorious prisoner is eager to cooperate with Michael although he refuses to talk with them. He blatantly admits to Michael that he knows who killed the girl, that he even witnessed the crime. The Feds use the inexperienced young cop to try to get more information out of the killer but the man's sick mind-games prove to be too much for Michael and begin to unhinge him. He is taken off the case.

One of the investigators, however, gives him an unofficial second chance and Michael's astute detective work uncovers the incriminating evidence. It seems the case is finally closed and Michael can go home. But then the lab work comes back from the forensics division. The serial killer is, as he said, not the murderer after all. The evidence points to Michael's small village and his worst nightmare seems to be coming true...